Welcome to the Hope and Gloria guide at TV Tome.It's about friendship. It's about family ... Hope Richardson (Cynthia Stevenson) and Gloria Utz (Jessica Lundy) are hilariously mismatched pals Hope & Gloria. Overly kind, generous and a bit too perky, Hope produces a local talk show starring pompous host Dennis Dupree (Alan Thicke). Tough, confident Gloria is a hairdresser with a 5-year-old son. Never very far away is the boy's father, Louis Utz (Enrico Colantoni), the man she divorced--twice. Gloria can't stand him, but he's a great dad. When her husband leaves her, Hope realizes that she and Gloria have a lot more in common than just their Pittsburgh apartment building. And Gloria, who's never had a friend she can trust, finds one in Hope. Together they share the ups and downs of single--and sometimes not-so-single--life in the fresh, timely comedy Hope & Gloria.

Hope's plan to get Gloria a job as hair stylist on the show becomes complicated as the temperamental Isaac first quits to move to South America, then returns unexpectedly - just after Gloria has quit her job at the salon where she's worked for nine years. It's up to Hope to convince Gloria's caustic former boss Cookie to take her back. Meanwhile, Louis stays over at Gloria's to tend ailing Sonny.

Gloria convinces Hope not to see her ex-husband again, inspiring Hope to help another spurned wife do the same, but then Gloria herself succumbs to temptation. Meanwhile, Dennis tries to help Hope by having her produce a segment called ""Sex With Your Ex,"" with Gloria as one of the guests.

An embarrassed and shy Louis secretly joins Hope's church choir, but Gloria isn't singing Hope's praises when she suspects that her friend and ex-husband are having an affair. Meanwhile, Dennis decides to have plastic surgery live on the show.

Hope has not told her parents she is divorcing Jeffrey, but when he turns up during their visit, the truth comes out. Big time, as it happens, because Hope's mother then reveals to her that Hope's father is not her biological father.

Hope becomes convinced that her father is Bill Anderson, the real name of actor Adam West of Batman fame, unaware that her mother insists it was another actor. Meanwhile, Dennis's lawyer accompanies Dennis and Gloria on a date to insure against charges of sexual harassment.

A lonely Hope spends the night with a handsome stranger, but it's possible that she's in for more of a relationship than she bargained for - he may be her brother. Distraught Hope does the unforgivable: she forgets to enter Dennis in the local Emmy Award competition, which he is sure he will win after 23 years of being passed over.

The new station manager orders Hope to arrange a Growing Pains reunion show, but there's a problem - Dennis refuses to be in the same room with his rival, Alan Thicke. Meanwhile, Scott, the little boy Gloria used to baby-sit turns up, grown up and still infatuated with her.

Gloria learns she's pregnant and contemplates a third marriage to Louis - a decision that could be advantageous for new station manager Gwillem who persuades them to have the ceremony live on the show. But the minister slated to conduct the nuptials doesn't show and is replaced by guest Burt Reynolds, while Hope, locked in the prop room, struggles desperately to get Gloria an important message from her doctor.

Hope's upset when Gwillem 'asks' her to care for his pampered poodle, so she attempts to play a practical joke on him - which, of course, backfires big time when she steals one of his prized wooden elephants without realizing the nature of its contents.

Gloria finds Hope's lack of faith in her the unkindest cut of all after Hope reveals she's having recurring nightmares of Gloria ruining her hair. They agree to consult a therapist and dream expert appearing on the show in hopes of identifying the source of Hope's neurotic fear. Meanwhile, Dennis insists on hosting a show-length infomercial for a male enhancement device, and Louis discusses diet with Gloria's next-door neighbor Scott.